Quote 4
"But mind, you said you wouldn' tell—you know you said you wouldn' tell, Huck."
"Well, I did. I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest INJUN, I will. People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don't make no difference. I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways. So, now, le's know all about it." (8.52, 8.53)
Huck vs. the World, and it doesn't involve any do-overs. Meeting Jim thrusts him right into conflict with the ethical system he's used to… and kudos to Huck for standing up for the right.
Quote 5
"Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim" (16.16)
Oops. Well, gee. Now Huck can't tell on Jim, because Jim has made him feel super guilty—and also pointed out to us that, despite all the lies, Huck is probably the most moral person in the entire novel. Or maybe even in the entire pre-Civil War South.
"It's a dead man. Yes, indeedy; naked, too. He's ben shot in de back. I reck'n he's ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan' look at his face—it's too gashly." (9.18)
Jim knows that this is Huck's dad, but he doesn't want Huck to see—so he lies. Is it right for Jim to lie? Or should he have told Huck?